The Inexplicable Bad Luck of Kenneth Tucker
by delightisadream
Summary: {OT3-verse; Daniel's not creepy; one-shot; ch2 is outtakes} IHS's curriculum has been going down the drain for quite some time, but now Kenneth Tucker is roped into teaching driver's education. Of course he gets the weirdest group - and worse, Daniel Miller and Emma Alonso.
1. Chapter 1

**Alrighty. You all remember Kenneth Tucker, correct? My middle school shop teacher who I changed the name of for _It's Called SHOP Class, Not Home Ec!_? I thought so. He's back, and he's better than ever. **

**Daniel's not creepy; he's actually a badass and it's amazing.**

 **Anyway, lovethatignites was driving us home the other day and of COURSE we thought of this beauty. So here it is. Happy 2017! Here's to praying sincerely it goes well! x3**

 **Quick little note: this OT3-verse (Andi/Daniel/Mia), so the line about "Mia's best friend" refers to Andi. Also, there's a WHOLE lotta shit within this verse that you guys don't know about and I'm not willing to explain.**

* * *

It had become increasingly obvious that Iridium High School was the shittiest private school ever.

It wasn't enough that Kenneth Tucker had been given the duty of teaching shop, health, math, social studies, and science as a substitute as well as being the guidance counselor and swim and track coach – and BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE – he now had taken on the role of driver's education instructor, too. And that wasn't even the biggest show of IHS's cheapness: there was no designated vehicle for the class, so whatever teachers they recruited had a passenger side brake pedal installed into their car.

In short, Tucker had no qualms stating that this school _sucked._

Several teachers had been given a list of students to teach the class, and Tucker, who was so well-versed in everything, could actually give them their real _test._ And, because the now-senior class had been so destructive and blowed so badly their previous years, the curriculum had absolutely no space for driver's ed until now. Half the teachers were teaching sophomores, while Tucker was one of the lucky ones to get the seniors.

Among the fellow teachers who shared this pain was Tucker's colleague, Claire Jones, the woman he subbed for in science. She hated their students almost as much as he did, and yet she had been assigned some relatively normal people like Heather B, Gigantor Joshua, and that loud, angry male who stanned Sabrina Carpenter and always wanted to know Sebastian's last name. (Like anyone knew that.) Tucker himself, for no rhyme or reason apparently, had been assigned his least favorite students. He had slowly begun to hate Tuesdays, for that was the day he taught – and he didn't say this lightly – his worst pupils:

Daniel and Emma.

/

The first drive was rather quiet, save for Daniel's quiet snorts from the backseat whenever Emma did something wrong.

It was common knowledge they had dated for awhile – two years in actuality, but half that time they weren't _really_ dating – and were now, at the most, acquaintances. With this information, Tucker hadn't been prepared for Daniel to _laugh_ at her. He expected utter silence. Instead, there was Miler chortling in the back which caused Emma to tighten her grip on the steering wheel – which only made Tucker notice the singed handprints even more from the day before. What had Rueda been _doing?_

/

The second drive, Daniel went first.

He was actually a very good driver. He was calm and collected, and paid attention to Tucker's instructions. Of course, this was only due to him needing this life skill. In literally any other class he taught, Miler either stared blankly at the wall or whispered loudly to Andi in a very unapologetic manner.

Tucker was giving him good marks and only a few things to fix, and then he had the boy pull over so Emma could have her turn. This time, Daniel was even less discreet in his amusement. Along with laughing a tiny bit louder than the previous lesson (which wasn't necessary; no one was talking and Emma could hear him just fine) he had now started taking pictures of her, even zooming in on her face.

Tucker had yelled at him once to quiet down, which only made Emma jump in her seat and Miler laugh louder. But hey, so far this was the least confusing lesson Tucker had. The other day Charlie Greene had actually started _crying_ to Mia over her best friend not paying him any attention.

And then Emma had hit a speed bump too quickly and Daniel was doubling over and Tucker wasn't so sure he liked Tuesdays anymore.

/

By the fifth drive, Emma was ready to retaliate.

Since there was nothing to find amusing by Daniel's driving, she had to improvise. Disregarding Tucker's rule of no eating in the (re: his) car, despite the fact he had six bags of chips hidden within the vehicle, not including the trunk, Emma brought in a bottle of Gatorade, chewy gummy bears, and a large bag of Lays. She chewed the food loudly in the backseat and tried to gargle as much of the drink as she could without choking, except her plan failed hugely. Daniel showed no immediate reaction other than a growing smile as he stayed focused on the road, and Tucker had thrown two pens at Emma by the end of the drive. Noisy eaters were one of his pet peeves – another, these students.

/

Tucker had had a particularly _rough_ day with Gigi and her and Sebastian's tech buddy Jeremy, full of so much gossip that wasn't exactly _legal_ that he knew his next lesson would put him on edge even more than usual.

His students got to drive twice a week (less for convenience and more because they were all so _bad)_ and he took out four total delinquents each day. Tuesdays and Fridays were Gigi and Jeremy in the morning shift, then Emma and Daniel in the afternoon. For the most part, this was his quietest day as Diego and Sebastian were always directly before and there was something _wrong_ with that Rueda.

So naturally, Tucker knew his afternoon would be very distasteful.

There was more talking than usual. Each time Daniel snorted and pretended to muffle it just to get under Emma's skin, because they ALL knew he didn't really care, she would say something along the lines of, "You're so childish," "Why can't you grow up," "Really? Pig noises?"

After a louder-than-normal snort from Miler, Emma laughed herself. "I should have known you'd be this dumb; you still didn't understand the freaking qua _dratic equation_ after an entire month."

Daniel shifted in his seat and the material made an odd noise underneath his weight, causing Tucker's facial features to contort. "Oh, well, I'm sorry, Emma. I don't make it my duty to learn useless things; I've always tried to leave that to you, if you haven't noticed."

Tucker had let their banter slide so far, but he wasn't expecting Daniel to have such a snappy comeback. He turned to Emma, whose jaw had dropped and her face was heating up.

"You mean useless things like your _birthday?"_ Emma gnashed her teeth together hotly, knuckles turning white against the steering wheel. Finding that one insult wasn't enough, she added, "Don't think I didn't notice your little _Twilight on Ice_ one-year anniversary was early and was actually on my birthday."

Tucker shifted in his seat and looked at Daniel from between the two seats. "Miler, you took a girl to _Twilight on Ice_ on her birthday, and not even for her birthday?"

Daniel shrugged nonchalantly. "Not my fault her birth date is unmemorable."

Emma scoffed, but her still-bright skin tone showed she was bothered. "Oh, of course. My bad my birth wasn't a _joke,_ Mr. April First."

Daniel put his hands together like he was ready to school her. "See, that wasn't even funny–"

"Okay," Tucker cut in, holding out his clipboard like it would silence them. "Enough of this. Alonso, drive. Miler – just shut up."

Emma muttered, "Finally," while Daniel made a point to show he wasn't affected by unbuckling his seat belt and lying down vertically across the entire backseat. His knees stuck up behind Tucker's headrest.

/

A few more drives had passed uneventfully for the most part. Each time they bantered, each time Tucker shut them up.

It was a rainy day, which had already put a damper on the usually-welcomed Friday, and it seemed that this affected Daniel's and Emma's already _awful_ moods.

Daniel's gangly legs were sprawled across the backseat and one foot was pressing into the center of Emma's seat persistently each time they made a turn. Tucker had directed them to take a back road today in hopes of it being easier than a busy road in the rain, but this only provided more twists and more opportunities for them to be annoying.

Emma's hair was back in a tight bun done quickly with a hair tie and her clothes weren't _exactly_ the uniform. She'd managed to grab the same colors as IHS, but none had the school emblem on them and Tucker decided not to mention the fact that this wasn't allowed and that her father was the principal. She clearly wasn't having a good day, and if he had to endure Daniel Miller not only in a school setting but a moving vehicle, then he'd be pretty pissed as well.

They had just begun to move over a relatively small bridge when Daniel laughed – no snort, no chuckle, just a full-out laugh that echoed and bounced off the walls of the enclosed space and left Tucker noticing that Miler had actually been laughing during their lessons. That kid never laughed before.

Emma gripped the steering wheel tighter and her elbows pointed out further. "What, exactly, are you laughing at, Daniel?" she grumbled, blowing a strand of hair that fell out of her bun away from her face.

Daniel sat up more in his seat and laughed again. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how your boyfriend of two years is getting hit on by a gay man and you just have to deal with it."

Tucker felt his eyebrows rise on his forehead before they relaxed again. He was talking about Rueda. No question. But that certainly explained Alonso's bad mood today; Miler's appeared to have no reason other than to be a dickwad.

Emma pressed down on the gas pedal a tiny bit and Tucker contemplated writing this down. "Well it's not like I haven't dealt with gay men before, having dated one myself. And we've been together one year."

Daniel snorted, completely ignoring the jab at his sexuality (which wasn't true, proven long ago by Gigi after extensive research). "Yeah, like you weren't dating Jax in tenth grade."

Tucker tapped his pencil against his clipboard. "How does any of this pertain to driver's ed, Miler?"

Emma clenched her teeth. "I wasn't, unfortunately. I was still involved with your dumb ass."

By this point, Tucker couldn't care less about swearing in his car.

Daniel kicked her seat, causing the car to lurch forward for a second. "I think we all know you were dating him then."

"I was not!"

Daniel leaned up between the seats and looked at Tucker. "It's funny, she actually sounds defensive."

Emma lifted a hand from the steering wheel in a 'what the heck' motion. "Because I am! I wasn't dating Jax!"

"Pfft, you were totally cheating."

It occurred to Tucker that if Daniel was aware he'd been cheated on in sophomore year (which he totally had been) then he probably shouldn't be fine with it. Then again, these two were absolute _imbeciles_ when it came to literally _anything,_ so it wasn't too shocking.

Emma stomped on the brake pedal for a moment and the car stumbled through the execution. It fully dawned on Tucker that if they ruined his car, Francisco definitely wouldn't have the money to cover the costs. "I was dating you and you were a _doof,_ but I wasn't cheating!"

"Yeah, because sneaking around and then flirting with Jax in front of me wasn't cheating."

Finally she growled and asked, "How's it cheating if you knew?!"

Tucker suppressed a chuckle. What was _wrong_ with these kids? And then the laugh died in his throat. These kids would soon be able to vote. Oh, Lord.

Daniel repositioned himself comfortably in his seat and crossed his legs, giving his right easy access to kick Emma's seat once again. "Because we hadn't broken up at that point. I define dating two people at the same time as _cheating,"_ he calmly explained, tapping the back of her seat at random words.

She rolled her eyes and grumbled. "Yeah, because you're so innocent, lying to me about Mia!"

"How's it lying if you knew?"

"Oh, well you can just–"

"Alonso, pull over!" Tucker ordered, effectively cutting their argument short once again. "Miler's turn."

Daniel just shrugged and didn't even acknowledge the mispronunciation of his last name, just quietly filed out of the backseat and took over the wheel like any other lesson.

Emma had her arms crossed and her feet – tattered Converses today – rested on the back of the center console but still out of Daniel's reach.

Tucker wasn't sure who to give bad points to today. Emma wasn't really an unacceptable driver, Miler just happened to bring the worst out of her. He settled for deducting ten out the twenty possible points from each student. Seemed fair.

/

The next drive could only end badly, Tucker assumed correctly: the interstate lesson.

It wasn't like Emma always started out driving first, because Daniel was bound to bother her either way: she just needed more work. Daniel had had a field day when Tucker announced that. So now she was at the wheel, and they had actually made it to the interstate before shit started up again, as usual.

All Miler had said was, "You look weird when you drive," and Emma was OFF.

"Seriously? Well you look weird all the time! Have you even _seen_ pictures of your hair from tenth grade?!"

Tucker coughed into his elbow.

Daniel snorted. "Have you seen your hair right now? Cool it with the waves, everyone knows you haven't liked the beach since Mia and I made out there."

Emma's eyes weren't on the road anymore and instead in the rearview mirror, glaring daggers at her ex-boyfriend. "I happen to have no problem with the beach, seeing as it was there I realized you were a _douche."_

Daniel opened his mouth to either make a retort or agree within a considerable range – Tucker could see both – but Tucker held up his hands and quickly said, "Quit it! You need to focus, or else we'll crash, alright? So calm _down."_

Emma's eyes went back to the road and Daniel relaxed in his seat, arms crossed.

For three seconds.

And then: "Ya know, it's your fault I could never get it up."

Emma abandoned all safety precautions and common sense as she literally stood up in her seat and turned around, yelling. "Oh, YA KNOW WHAT–"

A long blast of someone's horn sounded just as Tucker had to frantically grab at the steering wheel and direct them towards an exit as quickly as possible. Never could he have known this lesson would be _this_ bad. Bad, sure, but insulting Alonso's arousal ability and standing in a moving vehicle while abandoning the wheel? What the _fuck?_

/

It had seemed like forever, but test day had finally arrived for Daniel and Emma.

Tucker might have found their "little" spats entertaining from time to time, but he was beyond overjoyed for them to set foot out of his car and never get back in. Finally, he could gather up all of his chips from their hiding spots.

Emma went first, as usual. He had considered whether he should tell them to shut up and take this test seriously, but decided they'd do whatever they wanted anyway. They knew this was the test, and they'd act accordingly.

Daniel had appeared to have reverted back to slightly-annoying but mostly-quiet Miler in the backseat today, and his long legs were sitting in the center console just behind the gear shift. Tucker had accidentally set his left arm down on them more than once, and let's just say that was a _terrifying_ experience.

Daniel had been coughing every once in awhile, but now he cleared his throat, long and low, and Emma shifted her attention to him and turned in her seat. "What the _hell,_ Daniel? This is my test!"

Tucker groaned and put a big X by her name. "And you just failed."

Emma whipped to look at him, and still not the road. "What?"

Tucker angrily jabbed his finger at the air towards the windshield. "You're not keeping your eyes on the _road,_ Alonso! Safety hazard! Gosh, pull over and get out of the car so Miler can fail his test already."

Emma begrudgingly did as he said, shock still written all over her face. She had seriously just _failed_ because Daniel couldn't be bothered to be professional for _one. Day._

As soon as Daniel sat down and got adjusted in the front seat, Emma started up with his familiar annoyances, except much louder. She cracked her knuckles, snorted so hard she needed to blow her nose, and kicked his seat several times.

Tucker's right eye was twitching, but he didn't say anything because neither did Miler. He sat there; smiling simply at the road and never took his eyes off it.

They were only halfway through his test when Emma was so infuriated she sat up straight and growled. "Gah, how can you even stand being this annoying?!"

Daniel quirked his head and replied, "I'm used to your crap, Emma, this isn't new."

Emma most likely would have _rioted_ right then if Tucker hadn't put a huge check mark next to Daniel's name and said loudly, "You passed!"

Emma's eyes got big and she questioned, "Are you for real?!"

Under other circumstances, Daniel immediately running over a patch of shrubs growing by the side of the road right after would have been cause for Tucker to revoke the passing of his driver's test. Instead, nothing happened, and soon he had Daniel pull back into Iridium High's parking lot.

Mia was waiting by the back entrance despite it not being her driving day, and, like a good girlfriend, sauntered over to where Daniel was climbing out of the car. "Well?"

Daniel smiled widely at his girlfriend and threw his arms out. "I passed!"

Mia grinned up at him through her bangs and allowed him to pick her up off her feet in a warm hug, her black ripped jeans-covered legs wrapping themselves around his torso as she hugged him back. "That's great!" she exclaimed, pulling back just enough in his arms to give him a long, passionate kiss.

Emma, who had climbed out of the car and was now just watching this scene with Tucker, crossed her arms and let her jaw drop. "What the _fuck."_

Mrs. Jones, of course, happened to have pulled in from the road with that Sebastian-inquiring guy and Heather B, and heard her comment. "Detention, Ms. Alonso," she sighed audibly, running a hand through her hair as she got out of her vehicle. "How'd it go, Ken?" she asked, paying attention to her colleague.

Tucker tapped the top of his car and laughed. "Miler passed for once."

Claire's surprise showed in her eyes. "Wow. Impressive."

Emma waved an arm around, flabbergasted. "No one's going to yell at them for making out on school grounds?!"

Mia and Daniel were still going at it, and Tucker lifted one shoulder in an 'oh well' gesture. "We can't expect that to be an easy accomplishment for him, as you didn't help him get it up. I'll see you next week, Alonso." And inside he went, glad to at least be free of one student, even if he had been his source of amusement for the past few months.

* * *

 **This was actually my favorite piece to write, so please review!**


	2. OUTTAKES

**THE INEXPLICABLE BAD LUCK OF KENNETH TUCKER**

 **| OUTTAKES |**

 _ **{Because, cuh-LEARLY everyone needed more of Tucker's least favorite not-duo.}**_

* * *

 **/after fifth drive with Emma's retaliation; following fourth section in TIBLOKT/**

On the sixth drive, Tucker was itching to throw his entire clipboard at Alonso instead of just his pens from before.

She had apparently forgotten the food and drink she had brought in her previous attempt to break Daniel's focus, and was now munching on one of Tucker's hidden chip bags in the back. He smelled Fritos. And those were his favorite.

"Alonso, quit dwindling my chip supply down. I practically live on those," Tucker demanded, immediately following Daniel's sneeze and quiet butterfly mention before he wiped his snotty nose on his bare arm. Tucker had shied away from him at that.

Emma continued chewing. "Uh, no can do, Tucker. As much as I respect you," at that he almost snorted, because, _what,_ "Daniel hasn't really commented, so. I don't see why I should stop."

Tucker sighed loudly and shifted in his seat, the car moving slightly from the movement. "Alonso, Miler's not one to break focus while driving, alright? Maybe you should spend your time watching the _road—"_

Emma's munching reached an all-time high.

"Alonso!" Tucker angrily thrust his arm into the backseat and stole the bag from her. Yep. Fritos.

Emma made an irritated noise and moved closer to the center console. "How can you still drive like this?" she complained, face turned toward Daniel.

Daniel didn't even glance at her. "Believe it or not, Emma, not all of us have pregnancy pounds blocking our bodies from the steering wheel."

Tucker's mouth dropped open. "Miler, pull over."

Daniel kept on driving.

Alonso looked affronted. "Are you—are you kidding me? I'm not actually _pregnant!_ Oh my—"

"May Buddha have mercy on your sure-to-be ugly-ass baby," Daniel cut in, eyes light and face wiped of emotion.

"PULL OVER."

 **/after Demma's first true argument; following fifth section in TIBLOKT/**

Let it be said that while Miler was a decent driver, he was still himself (so, in other words, _pervy)._ Kenneth Tucker had always prepared himself for when that danky side of Daniel came out "just because" instead of when he made fun on Alonso with every breath. He just hadn't wanted it to be so…danky.

It was about halfway through Alonso's turn when Tucker heard Emma gasp from beside him. "Oh my God, _ew,_ Daniel, get your foot out of the window!"

Tucker's head snapped to his left, taking his eyes off the road and now seeing what Alonso was talking about. Daniel's left leg wasn't on the floor of the backseat, like it had been throughout the majority of Emma's practice time, but was instead sticking out through her open window. He was smushed against the inside of the car door in order to be physically able to torment her like that.

"Miler!" Tucker exclaimed, the clipboard he held flying up into the air in exasperation. "You're gonna cause a wreck! Stick it back in the car!"

Emma groaned loudly and smacked at Daniel's leg, eyes skittering around everywhere but the road. "So gross."

"Just like your face?" Daniel asked, rather calmly as he pulled his limb back inside the confines of the vehicle without so much as an explanation.

"Oh, really?" Emma snorted, attempting to compose herself by flicking a piece of hair away from her face. She actually returned to looking through the windshield. "Then why do you take so many pictures of me?"

"Because I like to _laugh."_

"When have you EVER laughed?!"

Tucker got a sudden chill, and his split-second suspicion was confirmed when he glanced to his right. "Wha-Miler!" Daniel's _right_ leg was stretched out above Tucker's lap, foot resting juuuuust outside the now rolled-down window. "How did you even—get that out!" Against his better judgment, Tucker grabbed at Miler's calf and tried to yank it away from the window.

Daniel sniffed loudly and stretched his leg out even more. A second later he elicited a high-pitched noise, just after Tucker pulled on his leg.

Emma jumped in her seat and the car stopped moving for a consecutive three seconds. "What the _hell?"_

"Dick—hurts," Daniel semi-screeched, his groin pressed on the center console to be able to stretch his leg out Tucker's window.

Tucker's face contorted uncomfortably and he shivered, but he shut his eyes and pulled Miler's leg out of the window and threw it—and, subsequently, the unfortunate body attached to it—into the backseat where it belonged.

Emma scrunched her nose up and coughed. "Oh my _God,_ it smells awful!"

Tucker nearly retched. "Miler, was—was Bryce right? Does your ballsack smell?"

"Nyehhhhhhh."

Tucker was close to crying. "Air it out! Air it out, all windows down, and _keep your disgusting body in the vehicle, Miler!"_

"Nyehhhhh."

 **/following previous section/**

Emma drove second the next time, but that didn't make anything better. Not that Tucker had any hope it would; he had seen too much.

The scent of something baking in the backseat had started as soon as Emma climbed into the front seat, and honestly, it wasn't as concerning as one might think. It was more of the fact that Miler could have been baking—say, his mom's jeans or something. Tucker had an uneasy feeling that that had happened in an alternate universe.

After five minutes of Daniel's regular unusual noises, Tucker sighed and rubbed at the crease between his eyebrows. "Miler, why in the world did you bring a microwave back there in the first place?" he asked slowly.

"And why is it even working?" Emma wondered aloud, glancing at her ex-boyfriend in the rearview mirror.

"Actually it's a mini-bake oven," Daniel corrected, patting the top of the contraption if only for the loud noise it made.

Emma flinched. Tucker grimaced.

"I'm making cookies, Emma. Not that you need to get bigger, I mean," he added as if it were an afterthought.

"Alonso, just drive," Tucker quickly said when Emma opened her mouth. She mumbled a curse, but complied.

They somehow managed to drive along in silence for a few minutes—which Tucker was grateful for, don't get him wrong—but it was almost unwanted when Daniel broke it by opening the oven and shoving his hand right into it without a mitt.

"AEEEEEEEEE!" he howled, back slamming into Tucker's seat and making the older man go "oof!"

The car swerved and there was a loud horn honking at them before Emma could get the car back under control. "Daniel!"

Tucker placed a trembling hand on his chest and barked out, "We're switching. We're switching."

Emma turned to look at him. "But we already—"

"My _God,_ we're switching."

Daniel made another painful noise. "I'm burnt."

"Shut the FUCK up!" Emma yelled, maneuvering the car off the road. She unbuckled and pushed open the door, stomping around to the back and climbing in before saying, "What is WRONG with you?"

Tucker was still breathing heavily, so Daniel shut the oven's door and pointedly said, "Don't touch that." Then he got out and went to the driver's seat.

Daniel, being the good driver he was, kept his eyes on the road and drove them quietly along the highway they were on. Tucker's breathing returned to normal. And Emma rarely made a noise from the back, save for when Daniel politely (seriously) asked her to scratch the back of his knee; well, the _back_ of his knee. In fact, Tucker was just about to check if she was even in the car when an alert popped up by the speedometer informing both the men (using the term loosely) in the front that a door was open.

"What the—" Tucker turned around in time to see Emma unplug the oven and send it tumbling out of the car and onto the road.

"What happened?" Daniel asked, as he wasn't looking away from the road. Tucker made a mental note to give him some extra points for that, but Alonso was getting a hell of a lot more for her little stunt today.

Emma crossed her arms and proudly stated, "Your shitty oven leaving the car."

Daniel gasped, eyebrows arching on his forehead making his hairline move upward. "My mini-bake oven!"

"Miler, don't even think about turning this car around," Tucker demanded, resituating himself in his seat and picking up his clipboard again, marking their points down. "Head back to the school."

The rest of the drive was spent with Emma grinning in the back and Daniel grumbling sad profanities.

 **/following previous section/**

The next practice, Emma and Tucker stood waiting outside his car, the former tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. Where was that Miler?

After ten long minutes, someone finally showed up—but it wasn't Miler. It was Mia.

Emma looked at her disdainfully. "What are _you_ doing here? Is Daniel actually so distraught about his stupid mini-bake oven that he's not coming?"

Mia paid her no mind and instead turned to Tucker. "Daniel got diarrhea. Like, really bad diarrhea. So I'm taking his slot today."

Tucker shuddered. "Say no more." He motioned to his car and the three of them filed in, Emma at the wheel.

Mia was still situating herself in the back middle seat when they got going, at which point she snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, and Emma, Daniel said he'd…" She quickly consulted the text from her boyfriend. "Lo—oh wait, _like_ to be here to take more zoomed-in pics of your face, but the mere thought of it gave him the shits again." Her thumb lightly pressed on the sleep/wake button of her phone and she glanced up at the other female in the car, the smallest of smiles playing on her face. Dating Daniel and becoming best friends with Andi had certainly made her more patient with people and situations she didn't particularly enjoy, but seeing Emma's reaction to this was still amusing.

Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times, gaping like a goldfish before sputtering out, "Tha-that _bastar—"_

But Tucker had apparently been thinking ahead. If Mia was having her practice time early, instead of with Charlie, then that could mean… "Black, are you telling me I might have to prepare to be with Miler and GREENE in this enclosed space on another day this week?"

 **/after the bridge incident; following sixth section in TIBLOKT/**

Daniel had sighed seven times in his second hour of practice already.

"Man, isn't it just a wonderful day?"

Tucker rolled his eyes and continued staring at the windshield.

Emma was sleeping through her practice time; through the entire practice, actually. Daniel had had just enough time to ask her twice to scratch the back of his knee (well, the _back_ of his knee) at the beginning of their outing. Tucker had yelled, "For the love of God, Alonso, just scratch his knee!" and Daniel had screamed, eyes still on the road, "THE BACK," at which point they realized that Emma had somehow fallen asleep.

 **/after the interstate lesson; following second-to-last section in TIBLOKT/**

Thirty-five minutes.

For thirty-five whole minutes, Alonso had been driving, Tucker had been breathing, and Miler had been snapping pics in the backseat.

Not only were both of Emma's eyes twitching, but her entire face had taken to the abnormal movement. Tucker hadn't said anything, as she was finally looking at the road, but he had to wonder how she could possibly focus under such Miler-ish conditions.

Alonso's foot pressed down on the gas pedal a bit more than usual, making Tucker uncomfortably grip his clipboard. "You know, Daniel, as Maddie would say, you better not be getting my bad side," she proclaimed amidst the camera clicks, evidently feeling the need to say something to stop the chortling Miler in the backseat.

"Emma, are you insinuating you actually have a _good_ side?" Daniel commented, the shuttering camera noise punctuating his statement.

Emma scoffed, having the gall to look offended by…anything he said. "Ex _cuse me—"_

"Pics out, dicks out!" Daniel exclaimed sassily, head moving just like the Z-formation snap trend for young preteens.

Tucker was trying to disregard everything they were saying, but that caught his attention. He twisted around in his seat and frantically asked, "Wait, Miler, is it actually out?!"

Emma's head whipped around as well, and just as they had confirmed Daniel's miler was, in fact, covered, there was a loud bump and the car dipped before jerking back up. Both Emma and Tucker snapped back to look at the road while Daniel turned to look through the back window at the pothole they had just hit dead-on.

Tucker frantically looked from the front to the back. "Alonso! There's a construction worker in there!"

Daniel had a pervy expression on his face. "Whoa, a real life TMNT." Except he pronounced the acronym 'tim-mint-ee.'

Tucker slapped his palms onto the dashboard. "Alonso, pull over! We're switching seats!"

Emma glared back at Daniel but complied and pulled over. When Daniel's door opened at the same time Tucker's did, Tucker settled him with a no-nonsense look. "Oh no, Miler. I'm driving us back."

Emma stopped walking and threw up her hands. "Then I'm sitting in the front."

Daniel nodded solemnly and shut his door. "Good thinking. New pic angles."

Tucker tried to ignore them and finally pulled them back out onto the open road. It said a lot about his tolerance that he was driving _now_ and not during the godforsaken interstate lesson.

 **/after Daniel passes and Emma fails; following last section of TIBLOKT/**

"You know, Alonso, I'm not even sure you would've been able to pass anyway," Tucker said one afternoon from beside Emma. Sophie, another failing student, was in the back rubbing leaves on her face.

Emma raised her eyebrows. Now that Miler had his license, she was much more collected during their lessons, even with Sophie. Actually, that might have been part of it: neither Emma or Tucker were convinced that those leaves weren't weed. They looked eerily similar.

Tucker continued before she could comment. "You missed an hour of driving when you were sleeping that one day."

"Um!" Emma put a hand out and looked at Tucker, to which he gave her a look and she focused back on the road. "Daniel didn't even show up once and literally sent his _girlfriend_ to take his place!" Her eyes had travelled back to her teacher.

Tucker shook his head. "I'm not here for you to vent your jealousy to, Alonso, now watch the road."

Sophie sighed happily from the backseat. "These _ferns_ are so calming."

Emma and Tucker shared a look. "I'm not jealous," she answered after a moment, readjusting her grip on the steering wheel. "Not of that, and not of anything to do with _Danny Boy._ I just don't like him, and I don't like Mia either."

Tucker's eyebrows furrowed. "But she fixed him."

"And I didn't break him! Contrary to popular belief," Emma grumbled, tapping the steering wheel with her index finger. "He's always been creepy."

"I don't doubt that."

Sophie leaned up between them and smiled, turning to Tucker. "Can I bring in a full fern next week?"

Tucker merely made a face and said lightly, "Sit back down, Johnson."

Once Sophie was quiet again and Alonso had stopped tapping, Tucker shifted his weight around and cleared his throat. "Alonso. I know this is going to sound…odd, but I think you might actually be missing Miler," he commented tentatively, touching his clipboard to the dashboard.

Emma choked. "Right. Just like I miss his dirty thong laying in the backseat."

But they could both hear what said…man would say about 'missing Miler.'

 _"Damn, that's a good band name."_

 **/a few moments later/**

"Wait, Alonso, are you telling me he had a thong in the backseat."

* * *

 **I made this for lovethatignites for Christmas (along with many, many other Daniel-related items; I'm sinning, I swear) and honestly, once I read over TIBLOKT and could get back into writing this version of Demma, it was really gross/fun to write. These two…poor Tucker. Oh my.**

 **Merry Christmas! Review!**


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